Turkey Roost 5/2
7.1mi RT 2100' EVG
Joe, Jim, Steve and I set out to climb Turkey Roost and a smaller, unnamed(but just as impressive) summit to the west, 7580. We started at the saddle of Cherokee Park Road just before it descends to LCR 67J, there is a large pullout and gate to enter Cherokee Park SWA. I was happy to see well used trails leading from the gate, and we would follow them along the grassy valley bottom to the point where they met the Forest Service road. The gate was unlocked farther down at the main trailhead and appeared to be in good enough condition to drive up with most mountain cars. At the saddle between UN 7814 and UN 7655 there was a Subaru outback parked, which was probably owned by the fly fishermen we'd see at the river later.
We left the road near the Turkey Roost and UN 7655 saddle and climbed the open hillside into the gully between the twin summits of Turkey Roost. Climbing to the summit was pretty easy and probably never exceeded class 2+, but it was fun to jump between the large boulders and numerous water-filled potholes. The views down to the North Fork of the Cache La Poudre River were impressive due to the nearly sheer drop from the summit to the river 1000' below. Turkey Roost is definitely one I'll repeat a few times since once isn't enough to fully explore both summits. Dropping back through the gully that we ascended on the way up, we contoured down to a creek and small trail that took us to the river.
After all of the wet snow and rain over the prior weeks, the river was flowing very quickly and was over-topping the banks in a few spots. Again there was a nice trail following the river that made travel much easier. I enjoyed the bottom of the valley for its mix of shady forest and open meadows with flowering cacti. We passed by two fishermen, the only people we'd see through the day, and eventually decided to split up and meet near the base of 7580. We were hoping to climb to the top of the jagged rock ridge, but we couldn't see any routes that were less than class 4. I believe there might be a way to make it up to the summit by climbing the ridge from farther down. but that would probably require a separate trip in order to search it out.
Leaving the base of 7580, we hiked south along gentle slopes as the clouds began to build. There were some excellent views back on different parts of the loop at the summit of an unnamed hill along the way. The hike was a great way to see some of the more remote sections of Larimer County and scale some fine boulder piles that the Red Feather Lakes area is known for. More pictures from this hike and others can be found at joeandfrede.com and Jim's EveryTrails.
I'd really like to go on a kayaking trip on the North Poudre starting at the Cherokee Park Road bridge and ending at Gateway Park at some point. This hike reminded me of a video I saw of someone kayaking the remote stretch that we were hiking past:
Joe, Jim, Steve and I set out to climb Turkey Roost and a smaller, unnamed(but just as impressive) summit to the west, 7580. We started at the saddle of Cherokee Park Road just before it descends to LCR 67J, there is a large pullout and gate to enter Cherokee Park SWA. I was happy to see well used trails leading from the gate, and we would follow them along the grassy valley bottom to the point where they met the Forest Service road. The gate was unlocked farther down at the main trailhead and appeared to be in good enough condition to drive up with most mountain cars. At the saddle between UN 7814 and UN 7655 there was a Subaru outback parked, which was probably owned by the fly fishermen we'd see at the river later.
We left the road near the Turkey Roost and UN 7655 saddle and climbed the open hillside into the gully between the twin summits of Turkey Roost. Climbing to the summit was pretty easy and probably never exceeded class 2+, but it was fun to jump between the large boulders and numerous water-filled potholes. The views down to the North Fork of the Cache La Poudre River were impressive due to the nearly sheer drop from the summit to the river 1000' below. Turkey Roost is definitely one I'll repeat a few times since once isn't enough to fully explore both summits. Dropping back through the gully that we ascended on the way up, we contoured down to a creek and small trail that took us to the river.
After all of the wet snow and rain over the prior weeks, the river was flowing very quickly and was over-topping the banks in a few spots. Again there was a nice trail following the river that made travel much easier. I enjoyed the bottom of the valley for its mix of shady forest and open meadows with flowering cacti. We passed by two fishermen, the only people we'd see through the day, and eventually decided to split up and meet near the base of 7580. We were hoping to climb to the top of the jagged rock ridge, but we couldn't see any routes that were less than class 4. I believe there might be a way to make it up to the summit by climbing the ridge from farther down. but that would probably require a separate trip in order to search it out.
Leaving the base of 7580, we hiked south along gentle slopes as the clouds began to build. There were some excellent views back on different parts of the loop at the summit of an unnamed hill along the way. The hike was a great way to see some of the more remote sections of Larimer County and scale some fine boulder piles that the Red Feather Lakes area is known for. More pictures from this hike and others can be found at joeandfrede.com and Jim's EveryTrails.
I'd really like to go on a kayaking trip on the North Poudre starting at the Cherokee Park Road bridge and ending at Gateway Park at some point. This hike reminded me of a video I saw of someone kayaking the remote stretch that we were hiking past:
